Mars One Mission Could Fail Terribly, Says MIT Students

The world's interest in sending people to Mars has never been higher, and for good reason: it is cited as both a necessity for the human race, and the technology to pull it off is advancing quickly. Multiple entities are looking into sending people to the Red Planet, perhaps the most notable being Mars One, which is looking to send a group of astronauts on a one-way trip. Unfortunately, as exciting as the prospects are, a group of MIT students says the mission is doomed, and that with the current plan the astronauts would starve.

A group of MIT's PhD students have published an extensive study that looks into plans to send humans to Mars, in particular the Mars One plan. For those unfamiliar, Mars One is looking to train and then send a group of astronauts to Mars, where they will live out the rest of their lives in colonies equipped with various life-sustaining technologies.

Those technologies aren't ready for such a task, however, says the study. The plan to grow food on Mars, for example, depends on technology that has never been tested beyond Earth — and it could fail, dooming the astronauts. Other problems were also noted with Mars One's plan, such as probable failures with the urine recycling system, which has failed in the past on the International Space Station, where it is in use.

The folks over at Popular Science spoke to Mars One CEO Bas Lansdorp about the study, and he dismissed it, saying that he has spoken with "very knowledeagle people" about the planned mission, and they have ensured him "these technologies will work." The sticking point is the problem of replacement parts, and having them available when an issue surfaces.

SOURCE: Popular Science